Ibrahim Abdo, a 19 years old worker from Nazareth, fell on Friday to his death from the third floor of a building on Dubnov Street in Tel Aviv, where he installed air conditioners. It was his first day of work. May he rest in peace.
On Sunday morning, we heard of another fatality, Fahad Yusef Ganimat, a 38 years old worker from Surif, near Hebron. Ganimat was killed in an accident that occurred in a Netivot construction supplies store, when he was ran over by a lift fork. May he rest in peace.
Damen Jul Tattur and Amin Nasser Bassul, 25 years old workers from Reineh, were killed on Sunday in a construction accident. The fatal accidents took place on noon, when the two workers fell off the seventh floor. Damen was killed immediately, and Amin was transferred to a hospital where he died from his wounds. May they rest in peace.
This is the cost of the “zero determent” policy enforced by the Ministry of Labor, the Police and the State’s Attorney. This policy results in total neglect of workers’ lives. While the public counts fatalities and families mourn for their loved ones, the enforcement and investigation authorities continue to proceed sluggishly, in negligent procrastination, such as time extensions for contractors in the demand to implement the European scaffolding standard, which takes a toll in human lives. No change will happen until employers pay a personal cost, through either financial penalty or incarceration, for workers who had lost their lives.
